Demi Lovato Honors Her Father With Scholarship, Says He Was Mentally Ill

Demi Lovato admittedly had a strained, rocky relationship with her late father, Patrick. She is hoping to honor his memory and “make it up to him” by launching the Lovato Treatment Scholarship along with Cast Recovery.

The endeavor will provide services to those with mental illness who want to seek treatment, since her father also dealt with similar issues in his life and had trouble securing the help he needed.

“My dad suffered from mental illness,” Lovato, never one to keep personal details or secrets from fans, told E!. ”He was suffering so bad that he couldn’t function in society normally and he couldn’t get the help that he needed. So, when he passed away, I thought myself, ‘I wish there was something I could have done.’”

Lovato quickly realized that there was something she could do and that’s create this program.

She continued, “Because he’s passed away, I felt like it was too late and then I realized, ‘Actually, it’s not too late.’ He wasn’t a bad person. I didn’t have the best relationship with him and for so many years I was mad at him, but when he passed away I realized none of it was even his fault. He had mental illnesses.”

Lovato pointed out a harsh reality for those with mental health problems – care is costly. That’s why the Lovato Treatment Scholarship will be a critical tool. She said, “Treatment is actually very, very expensive. And whether it’s rehab or in-patient, out-patient — whatever it is — I wanna be there providing that service because I didn’t get the chance to do it with my dad, and I wanna make it up to him now that he’s looking over me.”

At least she found a way to reconcile her feelings towards her father, who died last month, while helping others. While it was said that Mr. Lovato had been battling cancer, the official cause of death remains unrevealed.

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